Professor Austin Nevin (a man in a red coat) and Professor Lori Wong (a woman in a blue coat) peer at a wall painting in a darkened room, illuminated by a flashlight.

Remembering Professor Austin Nevin

4 Oct 2024

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Austin Nevin, following a long illness. 

Austin was a highly valued member of The Courtauld community. An alumnus of The Courtauld, he joined us in 2020 as the Head of our newly unified Conservation Department. In this role he led the relaunch of its three MA programmes in Easel Painting Conservation, Wall Painting Conservation and Art History and Conservation of Buddhist Heritage; promoted transdisciplinary research on preventative conservation, technical art history, conservation science, and conservation ethics and practice; led several major successful grant applications; and developed the department’s range of expertise.

Austin was an extraordinary and influential scholar who was held in great regard by all he worked with. He co-authored over 100 research papers and collaborated with colleagues across the conservation field, with his publications on spectroscopic analysis being cited by hundreds of other scholars. His research focused on the conservation and analysis of paintings, and on ancient and modern art on walls, easels and on paper. The materials he investigated ranged from Chinese wall paintings to Egyptian Polychromy, and his scholarship encompassed such fascinating subjects as the analysis of red pigments from Leonardo’s The Last Supper and the discovery of ancient egg binders in wall paintings from Tel Kabri. 

Austin joined The Courtauld from his role coordinating the MA degree in conservation at the University of Gothenburg. He previously taught at the Academia di Brera and was a researcher at the Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie (IFN) in Milan, part of the Italian National Research Council. Austin completed post-doctoral research at the Department of Physics at the Politecnico di Milano and at The Courtauld as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, and was a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Fellow at the Foundation for Research and Technology (IESL-FORTH) in Greece. Austin studied at The Courtauld for an MA in the Conservation of Wall Painting and PhD, having completed his first degree in Chemistry at the University of Oxford. 

Austin also contributed to the conservation field through his service as Vice President and Fellow of the International Institute for the Conservation of Artistic and Historic Works, where he chaired the Technical Committees for the Edinburgh (2020), Turin (2018), Los Angeles (2016) and Hong Kong (2014) Congresses and edited Studies in Conservation.  

Austin achieved so much. His boundless enthusiasm and energy were remarkable, and his warm-hearted and thoughtful character made him a popular and charismatic leader. He remains an inspiration to his friends and colleagues. Austin was husband to Serena and father to three young daughters, and all of us at The Courtauld send them our most heartfelt condolences.

If you would like to contribute your condolences, you can do so here, using the password Austin: https://www.kudoboard.com/boards/W19ggcQN

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